Lara Croft and the Child of Yamatai
by AlexAndLara
Summary: Sequel to Alex Weiss and the Yamatai Disaster. Lara had just gotten home from the island that killed three of her beloved friends, not even a month ago. The things she witnessed will scar her forever, both mentally and physically. But now, Lara must cope with the deaths of her friends... but are they really dead?
1. Chapter 1

I shut the door as hard as I could, blocking the news reporters from swarming over me. I leaned up against the door and slowly started to sob. The hot tears streamed down my face, wiping off what little makeup I was wearing. The lights were off, and darkness consumed me. I turned around, my back to the door, and slowly slid down it, sitting down with my face in my hands. I began to cry more, letting the tears consume me.

"Lara, is that you?" Sam's voice rang throughput the small apartment. She turned her head into the hallway that ended with the front door I was sitting by, her facial expression hard to read. It was somewhere between concern and self-loathing.

"Yes, it's me Sam." I said as I wiped the tears from my eyes and stood up. My knees were sore, my hands were numb, my back ached, and I had a terrible migraine. "I'm fine." I finished as Sam tried to hug me. Samantha was a few inches shorter than me, up to my nose. She used to be a lot skinnier than me, but ever since that island... I've lost so much weight. Although I am slowly gaining it back. I think it's because I'm actually able to eat more than one meal a day.

"Lara, you don't need to shut yourself away from me. I was there too," She chided as she sat me down in an arm chair by the door. "You can tell me anything." I sniffed.

"I know, Sam... just, not yet.. I can't think about it yet. I'm not ready."

"Well when you are, you better talk to me first!" Sam said with a small chuckle. "Look, I'm really sorry about Roth, and Grim, and Ale-"

"Sam, please," I said as I looked up at her, teary eyed. "Not now." Sam lifted her hands up in surrender.

"Sorry... I'll be In the kitchen if you need me." Sam got up and walked a few feet into the small kitchen, where she was preparing a small meal. I slowly got up and grabbed the plastic bag, carrying it over to the other end of the hallway and into the bathroom. I closed the door and locked it, flipping on the Light switch. The mirror was the first thing I saw... but what I saw looking back at me, it wasn't human. It was an animal, something that killed countless people without a second thought. I looked away from the mirror and reached into the bag. I pulled out a small white object and twirled it in my hands.

"Please don't be true..." I took off the plastic surrounding it, and threw the plastic in the trash.

I held my hand up to my face as I looked down at the small white object. It couldn't be true, I kept telling myself. It couldn't be.

The small black plus sign showed it was true, through. No matter how much I wanted to deny it. I... was pregnant.


	2. Chapter 2

My eyes fluttered open to a rapping on the door. I looked around, noticing I was still in the bathroom. I must have fallen asleep...

"Lara, are you okay? " Sam called from the other side of the door. "You've been in there for a while." My hand drifted to the sink and I pulled myself up from the cold ground. Sleeping on a hard tile floor definitely didn't help my back.

"Yeah... I'm fine." I said. And I was, until I looked at the white object sitting in the trash, the plus sign tuning me. How had I forgotten?

"Well, dinners ready... are you sure nothings wrong?"

"Yeah, Sam. I'll be... I'll be right out." I pushed the bangs out of my eyes and redid my ponytail, trying to get every strand of my dark hair into the band. I splashed water on my face.

"Lara..." Sam was still on the other side of the door.

"Sam, I'll be out!" I said in frustration. I kicked the wall and regretted it, my bare feet searing in pain as my toes hit the wall. "Oh, shit!" I said a little too loud.

"Lara!" Sam tried opening the door, but it was still locked. I hurried up and unlocked the door and walked out as if nothing had happened.

"Are you okay? I heard you screami-"

"I'm fine, Sam. Let's go eat." I said trying to hide the pain I felt. I looked at the trash can one last time before closing the bathroom door and heading into the kitchen to fetch food. I entered the kitchen and grabbed two plates from the cabinet and two cups from the washing rack. I put one of each on either side of the table as Sam moved the pot of chicken casserole to the center of the table. I took the spoon and took a large chunk of the gooey deliciousness. Sam did the same with a slightly smaller scoop. Sam began to eat but I just twirled my food around with my fork. Sam didn't even notice; she was checking Facebook or something on her phone. She aimed the camera and took a picture of her meal.

"Instagram?" I asked.

"Yes!" Sam said with excitement. "First time i've baked this without burning it!"

"Congrats, Sam." I took my first bite and almost gagged. Sam was eating away at her meal, as if it didn't taste like raw egg. I set down the fork and went over to the fridge, pulling out a 2 liter bottle of Coke. I poured it into my cup and did the same to Sam's.

"Thirteen likes already!" Sam said with a slight smile. I went back to my seat and took a swig of my drink.

"Congrats..." I said not-so enthusiastically. Sam just typed away at her phone. I decided to pull mine out of my pocket and check my Instagram as well. I checked the latest picture I uploaded a few days before the voyage... two likes. One of them being Sam. the other... was Alex. Oh gods, Alex... Those dorky glasses and cheesy game quotes always brought a smile to my face until recently. Now, that face only showed up in my nightmares. I could've saved Alex if I didn't give up on him.

I got up from the table and dumped my leftovers back into the pot and put that into the fridge for later.

"You're done already? You barely took a bite!" Sam questioned.

"Yeah, i'll eat more later. I'll be in my room if you need me." Sam waved me off and I headed back into the main hallway, and went into my bedroom across from Sam's. I reached into my night stand dresser and pulled out an old, leather back book with sloppy handwriting on the front: "Alex's Journal." I sifted through the pages, and landed on the one page I remembered, page 19.

"April 11, 2013

I finally fixed the stupid error message that showed up on all the consoles today. It took a hell of a lot of brain power to get it done, but now I can sleep safe knowing the ship won't catch on fire of overheating in the middle of the night.

I passed Lara talking to Sam on the promenade deck on my way back to my cabin. Once again, looking as beautiful as ever. I don't even know why I bother writing this stuff down, journals are for keeping records of ship details and maintenance, not fantasizing about my dream girl. But Lara is just too damn pretty AND smart to be on this ship. Sometimes I like to imagine she dreams about me every now and then, and I'll save her from some huge explosion, and be then hero for once. But how often does a guy like me get to be a hero? Never. I should just stick to the shadows and not bother her like i've been doing ever since I met her."

I closed the book in hopes that I wouldn't drop any tears onto the fragile pages. Almost every page in his journal talked about me. Even one of them had a sketch of me! Who knew Alex was such an artist... No one. The only person who bothered to truly befriend Alex was Jonah.

"Oh, Alex..." I whispered to the book. "I do dream about you."


	3. Chapter 3

I stared at the red LED that illuminated a small portion of my dresser. The clock read 2:31 A.M. it was either I couldn't sleep, or I'd have terrible nightmares. Either way I was always tired, always exhausted. Sam was so loud when she snored. I could hear her two rooms away. Reyes, Sam and Jonah seemed to have been getting sleep easily. Hell, the only thing Reyes even complained about was Roth's death. Jonah didn't really even talk about anything on the island. Although he does bring up Alex and him every now and then. Although I do think of Roth and Grim a lot, Alex is the biggest variable in my head. What if he lived? Would he have asked me to a date? Would he still be the same coward he was and not even think about bothering me? In his journal he convinced himself to at least offer coffee when we got back... if he had gotten back. I feel so bad invading Alex's privacy. I feel like some tomb raider, as if I was uncovering the secrets of some lost civilization. But I felt guilt about opening his book. Would I want him to read mine if I had switched places with him? The difference is that mine would just be filled with drabble about Yamatai and archeological digs... not thoughts of Alex and how perfect hi messy hair was.

I decided to get up and go for a midnight stroll. Walking always helped me organize my thoughts. I couldn't stand being cooped up in a bed much longer. I opened my closet and grabbed a pair of cargo pants and a long sleeve plaid shirt. I threw the clothes on my bed and took of my shirt. I looked down and couldn't help but notice the multiple scars on my body. Particularly a large red spot on my side from when I first escaped that cave... I put the shirt on and adjusted the sleeves. My pants fell to the ground, revealing even more scars. Multiple cuts and gashes were just from traversing sharp rock cliffs and the underbrush of the forest. I threw on my pants and grabbed my high heel boots from the corner of my room. I didn't even bother tying them; I just tucked the strings into the shoes and put the on. I grabbed my hey off the counter and locked the door on my way out.

Ever since I returned from Yamatai, countless news reporters have begged to get an "exclusive interview" with me. But I wasn't about to open up about that place yet. It's like that embarrassing childhood moment that you just can't shake off. I walked down the paved pathway of the nearby park. Lamp poles dotted the park, illuminating the pathway every now and then. I stopped suddenly and felt my belly. I completely forgot about the pregnancy test. I haven't had intercourse with anyone in the past year or so... how I could I be pregnant? The Damned thing must've been wrong somehow. I'll go buy another one in the morning, I thought. I remembered Rosemary's baby... that story always freaked me out. I tried not to think about it... but the question puzzled me to no end. Could it be possible that a Solarii member had...? I pushed the thought from my head again.

My cell phone buzzed in my pocket. I reached into it and pulled it out. Samantha was calling. I swiped the bottom of the screen and held the smart phone to my ear. "Hello?"

"Where are you?" Sam demanded. "I got up to get a snack and you weren't in your bed."

"I'm fine, I just went for a stroll in the park."

"At four in the morning?" I looked down at my watch. 4:02 A.M. shit!

"I'll be right home. Just needed some fresh air." I swiped in the opposite direction on the screen and stuffed my phone into my pocket. I spun on my heel and prepared to turn around, but three ghostly figures blocked my way.

"Wha... what?" I said, backing up into the light. The three people did the same... the one on the right had a flat cap and a sweater, his neck completely snapped with a slight smile on his face. The one in the middle had two pistol holster at his side, his gray hair matching his skin... with a hatchet in his back. And the one on the right had a plain white "Esc." Shirt on, and looked quite normal, except his glasses were broken and his left leg had almost no skin on it.

Grim, Roth and Alex.

"Get away from me!" I yelled as I pulled out a can of pepper spray from my back pocket. I clicked it down and sprayed it into Roth's face, but it had no effect. I dropped the canister and backed away slowly.

"You let us die, Lara." They all said in unison."You of could've saved us."

"No. You aren't real." I said as I started to tear up.

"You let me fall." Grim said in a shaky accent.

"You let me die." Roth said with a cough.

"You let me drown." Alex said, spitting out water. I dropped to the ground, in a full blown crying fit.

"I'm sorry!" I yelled. The three figures moved in on me, surrounding me.

"Let us return the favor." They said in unison. I closed my eyes tight, not letting any tear out. "Let us in your head. Let us in! Let us in!" I opened my eyes, and I was completely alone in the park. I started to cry without holding back. After a short time I wiped my eyes and headed home.

When I entered the door, Sam hugged me. "Are you okay?" She asked, looking into my eyes. I set down my keys and entered my bedroom.

"I'm fine." I said as I closed my door. That night, I slept with the lights on.


	4. Chapter 4

My eyes opened suddenly when my alarm clock beeped over and over again. The red LED blinking into my eyes. It was already 10:00 A.M. It felt like I had only slept for 15 minutes. I climbed out of bed (checking under it to make sure no creepy Ghosts were there,) and threw off my old outfit from last night I had slept in. I grabbed a dark blue sports bra and put a black t-shirt on over it. The shirt was twice the size of my body, but I liked loose shirts every now and then. I didn't even decide to put on pants- I just walked out of my room with pink underwear.

I pulled out eggs from the fridge and turned on the gas stove, almost burning my hand. I set a pan over the low flame and cracked two eggs into it. I pulled out a spatula from the utensil drawer and flipped the eggs over, careful not to break the yoke. After a few minutes I clicked off the stove and tossed an egg onto each plate I had laid out. I put a fork next to each plate and strided to Sam's bedroom door. I opened it slowly, careful not to set off any alarms or trip wires. Sam's room was a mess; clothes all over the floor, textbooks that hadn't been touched in ages scattered around the room, the curtains hanging my a thread, and Sam, who sat upside down off of the bed with her pillow between her legs.

"Sam..." I said, nudging her shoulder. "Sam."I said again with a bit more intensity. I got impatient and pushed her legs off of the bed, causing her to collapse in a fit of screams, which caused a smile to dance across my face.

"Lara, that is NOT okay!" She said half asleep.

"Your breakfast is ready." I said with a giggle. She made some weird mix between a groan and a snort. She groggily opened up her eyes and lifted herself off the floor (with my help). Soon, we were eating the small eggs I had cooked.

"No bacon?" She asked as she gobbled up her egg in one bite. She didn't even bother to get a fork- she just picked it up and stuffed the egg in her mouth. "I'll be back," She said as she lifted from the chair and wiped her eyes. She headed over to the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

Sam had completely stopped with Yamatai and her ancestors. She didn't ever want to go back to that place again, and I wouldn't blame her. That island was hell. But Sam hasn't even touched a single textbook nor looked up anything about other myths related to Yamatai. She'd barely lifted a finger her whole time back. Granted, I barely have either, but at least I can say I managed to find a fee more documents on Yamatai. Hell, I even started writing a few pages myself to be submitted to a professor. I took my plate to the sink and washed it off before putting it into the dishwasher, along with my fork and Sam's dishes. I closed the dishwasher and sighed heavily. Fatigue had worn me down for a long time. I could barely move without being in pain when I first got off the island.

Sam walked out of the bathroom as the toilet flushed. She sat down on the couch in front of the TV, but didn't turn it on. She just sighed and put her feet up onto the coffee table. "Lara, could you come here?" She asked politely. I frowned and sat down next to her on the couch.

"What is it?"

"Did you happen to take a pregnancy test sometime today?" The question threw me off guard. Did she know? How could she know?

"Why?"

"I found a positive pregnancy test in the trash when I dropped my lotion into the bin. I don't know if it's mine or not..." She put her hands in her lap.

"Sam, I-"

"We can't afford me to have a kid, Lara... I need to find some way to get an abortion. Do you know if th-"

"Sam!" I yelled, slapping her arm lightly to grab her attention. "That was my pregnancy test. I'm pregnant." I put my face in my hands, sobbing lightly. Sam was right, we couldn't afford this right now. We live in a rundown apartment complex, and even though we did find Yamatai, and many ancient gold pieces, but multiple museums and colleges took them away, saying that they were public property. We did get money from a few family members, but thats all the money we were running on at the moment.

"Lara..." Sam said in disbelief. "How could you be pregnant? I haven't seen you with anyone in the past few years. You barely ever go out with friends anyway... how could you be pregnant?"

"I don't know..." I said, teary eyed. "What if someone on the island-"

"Don't talk like that," Sam interrupted. "I promise you, nothing happened on that island. You could've beat the living hell out if anyone who tried." She rubbed her legs in wait. "Are you sure you haven't been with anyone lately?"

"No one that I can recall. I was thinking maybe it was-" the phone began to ring at that moment. I reached over to the telephone on my left and held it to my face. "Hello?"

"Hey, little bird." Jonah said through a shaky voice.

"Jonah?" I asked, drawing a look of surprise from Sam. "It's something wrong?"

"Depends on how much you like him." He said vaguely. "You need to come here, now."

"What? Jonah, you live four hours away!"

"Trust me," He said with a pause. "It's worth it." He hung up the phone.

"What did Jonah want?" Sam questioned.

"Sam, grab your keys." I said as I headed to my bedroom to put on pants. We're going to go visit Jonah."


	5. Chapter 5

"Are you going to tell Jonah?" Sam asked from the passenger seat. She was slouched up against the door on her phone, looking up momentarily. She didn't ever wear her seat belt, which annoyed the hell out of me. If I got into a car crash and Sam flying out the window... I didn't like that on my conscience. I looked forward onto the empty road, the sun setting just beyond it.

"I don't know... I think I might wait to tell him." Sam took her feet off of the dash and turned right. The camera on me phone had Sam and I in the lens. "Why are you taking a picture?" I asked. I tried my best to smile with the sun in my eyes as Sam clicked the screen and turned back around.

"We're going on a road trip, Lara! I need to post this." She tapped away at the screen carelessly. I turned my head to the GPS on the window, taking a left. The small flag on the screen indicated that Jonah's house was at the end of the street.

"We're here." I stated blankly as I pulled up onto the curb. Sam instantly opened the door and put her phone in her pocket, eager to see one of her best friends aboard the Endurance. Sam had made friends with pretty much everyone on the ship. The only exceptions were Dr. Whitman (for obvious reasons), and Reyes, but that's more because they just can't relate at all. She didn't really get to know Grim too well. Hell, the only person who did was Roth and Alex.. isn't that a coincidence?

I hopped out of the car and shut the door to the dark Blue sedan, meeting Sam by the front door. She rang the doorbell to the small one story rancher. The sound if goats and cows startled by the Bell was heard in the distance. Within seconds, the door swung open, with a large tan skinned man and a Mohawk of some sort sat on the other side. Sam and I instantly jumped into his big meaty arms, causing a slight chuckle.

"Hey, girls. Glad to see you." He let us out of his grasp and closed the door behind us. I always liked Jonah's house; it was small and comfy, built for one person. There were plenty of windows and decorations on the walls, and it always smelled like food... and I liked food.

"Glad to see you too!" Sam said as she entered the kitchen to grab something from the fridge- Jonah was a god at cooking. "What's this?" She held up an aluminum foil wrapped sandwich of some sort.

"That," Jonah said with a slight laugh. "Is my left over sub... from Subway." Sam shrugged and unwrapped the sub, taking a small chunk and putting it into her mouth. She stuffed the rest back into the fridge and rejoined us in the living room.

"So what have you been up t-" a cough from the dining room off to the side stopped me from asking my question. Hidden in the dark room was a ghostly figure, looming in the shadows.

"Right... this is why I called you here." Jonah motioned for the figure to come into the light. It cropped out of the darkness and revealed it's face. The neatly trimmed, suit bearing man who had lost the hair on his head a long time ago who's wrinkles and facial expression of seeing me was unrecognizable.

"Winston?" I asked the butler incredulously. "What're you doing here?" The man coughed again, revealing even more of his age.

"A Mrs. Weiss wants to contact you, Lady Croft. Said it was urgent. Seeing as I lost your contact after your parents..." He paused a moment, trying to avoid the subject. "I had moved on to another home. But apparently, a Mister Alex Weiss had informed his mother that I had worked for you. So after your... disappearance, she demanded a way to contact you."

"How did Alex get your number?" I asked.

"He had arrived at the Croft mansion in search of you two days before the voyage. He had wanted to fetch you for something... I can't recall. But we exchanged numbers for me to inform Alex when you got home..."

"...but that's when we decided to leave on the expedition two days early..." I finished. With Roth's permission, we contacted the Endurance crew that we'd be leaving for Yamatai early. Alex had wanted to ask me to a date... but I interfered with that. I feel so stupid...

"So since I did backround checks on all of your crewmates..." Winston said, eyeing Sam with an odd look. "I contacted Jonah in hopes of finding you. And may I say, you are a sight for sore eyes." I teared up a slight bit and went over to hug the butler that had served the Croft family for so long. Winston hugged back with a cough.

"Here is Mrs. Weiss's number, Lara.' He handed me a slip of paper with a seven digit number on it. "Good luck, Ms. Lara," Winston said, heading out the door. "Have you ever thought about settling down? Youd make a great mother." He left the house and entered a black car on the opposite side of the street.

"Thank you, Jonah." I said, giving him a final hug. "But we need to get on our way. It was good seeing you." I gave Jonah another hug, wiping away another tear.

"Well miss you!" Sam said as we left the house with Winston long gone. I got into the passengers seat, making Sam have to drive. The second the engine turned on, I fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

I arrived at the cafe that Mrs. Weiss had requested. It was a small coffee shop nestled between a book store and an apartment complex - It would have been impossible to find if not for the neon sign sticking out from the side of the building. It read "Dave's Mocha Magic" on the sign. I opened the singular glass door and headed upside. I didn't recognize anyone inside, a few couples, an elderly man reading the newspaper, and an older woman sitting by herself. I headed to the counter and pulled out my leather wallet.

"What can I get you today, ma'am?" The barrista behind the counter asked. She had long brown hair tied back in a messy ponytail. I did a double take for a moment, as she looked exactly like I did, the only difference being our clothing and her lack of an accent. Is some God playing a cruel trick on me? Is this me, in some alternate universe where I never became an archeologist, never went to collage, never went to Yamatai? Living a normal life as a barrista behind a counter; easy work. Grim could've been the elderly man reading the newspaper as I served Alex, the paperboy his usual coffee that he stopped to get before every run? And Roth, enjoying a little R&R after teaching firing lessons at the gun range for the new recruits? I don't even think it's possible to live that kind of life. Not one bit. But Grim is dead... Roth is dead... Alex is dead... all because of that stupid barrista behind the counter. I got the paperboy killed, the old retired man killed, the instructor, killed. I can't hold this kind of weight on my shoulders.

"Just black coffee, please. Small." I tossed a 5 dollar bill onto the counter and watched the barrista rack up the money and return my change, which I reluctantly put into my pocket. Moments later my warm drink was delivered to me, and I sat down at an empty table in the corner of the room. I unlocked my phone after taking my first sip and checked Instagram again; I had the picture of Sam and I in the car ride. It had one like... Sam.

"Excuse me? Are you Lara Croft?" A woman asked me. I looked up from my phone and saw a petite woman with dark brown cropped hair, blue eyes with a small hunch. Her voice was dramatic; each word carried a sense of rushed but relaxed tones. She was wearing a pink Polo shirt with white skirt.

"Yes, that's me." I paused, locking my phone and stuffing it into my back pocket. "Are you Mrs. Weiss?"

"Mhm." She grunted as she pulled a chair out and sat down onto the hard wood stool. "Do you know anything about where Alex is?" She asked. I thought back to the Solarii shooting down at us as his foot lay caught under a metal pipe - he told me to go, but I didn't want to at all. I don't even know why I left him there; we could've killed off the Solarii and he wouldn't have had to blow up the stupid ship.

"I... haven't seen him since we left the island." I said with a single tear daring to escape my face, which I wiped away furiously.

"So he's alive? Is he here somewhere?" The question made my heart drop.

"Ma'am, what I'm about to tell you... it isn't something you want to hear."

"I'm listening..." She said as she leaned in closer to hear.

I paused for a moment. "Alex's foot was caught under a pipe in the Endurance... he could get out in time before it... well, blew up..." I sat back into my chair, hoping not to see the fragile lady burst into tears.

"Wha... what? That can't be possible! Why didn't you help him?!" She asked, raising her voice.

"He was stuck under a pipe," I said as I let tears flow. "He was stuck! Either he died, or we both did."

"So you're the one who killed my son?" That question drew the attention of a majority of the store. "You let my Alex blow up because you wanted to save your pretty little face? You couldn't have gotten help?!"

"We were surrounded by men trying to kill us, Ma'am... if I could've switched places with him, I would have." Mrs. Weiss stood up.

"Is there any way possible to at least find his body?"

"I'll call the a rescue force to search the beach, but besides that, I can't do much..."

"What we're his last words?" Mrs. Weiss stood over me like a giant.

"Umm... go, take the tools?" I said, trying to remember the scene in my head even though I clearly didn't want to.

"...that's it? He would rather die than try to get help from you?"

"Ma'am, I-" She took my cup of coffee and spilled it onto my pants, burning my skin and making my Instincts kick in. I jumped up and knocked the coffee from her hand and pushed her back slightly, making her bump a table.

"You're a bitch for putting yourself before him." She picked up her purse and left the shop, leaving me with the glares of the entire restaurant. That wasn't the first time someone called me a bitch...

***Some Time In April, 2012...***

"Cmon, Lara..." My boyfriend, Felix had said as he pulled me onto his lap. "It'll be easy. I promise." I turned around, facing him as he sat in the night clubs booth. The music was so loud I could barely hear him.

"Felix, please, not now..." I said, trying to escape his grip. But he was too strong, pulling me back to his lap.

"C'mon babe!" He reached around and groped me, which sent me into complete offensive mode. I twisted around again and kneed Felix in his groin as hard as possible. This sent Felix into a howling stupor, as he held his junk and tried suppressing the pain.

"You bitch!" He said as he stood up and turned his hand, preparing to slap me. I braced myself, but his hand never struck me. Felix instantly started to jolt around, until finally collapsing on the glowing floor. Behind him, was the techy nerd, Alex Weiss. I looked back down at Felix, who wasn't moving.

"Oh my god, you killed him!" I yelled as I Bent down to check him.

"Hello to you too," Alex breathed. "He's just knocked out. A few volts wouldn't kill him, but it sure made him pass himself." Alex chuckled as the dance floor became yellowed.

"Why are you even here? I mean, thank you and all, but, I thought you didn't like parties?"

"I went to collage with the guy who owns this place's son, and one of their," He made quotation marks with his hand, "special rooms, was having an electrical problem with the flood lights."

"...So you electrocuted my boyfriend?" I asked with a bit of doubt.

"Well, it was either that or let him slap you..."

"Well..." I said, kicking Felix's leg. "Thanks, Alex." He smiled and fixed his glasses as he put cables back into the toolbox he was carrying with him.

"Do you, maybe want to get some coffee...? This place is kinda dull." I smiled and looked down at my ex boyfriend.

"I would love to, Alex."


	7. Chapter 7

For the past few days, the interviewers and photographers had stopped and dwindled in numbers, thankfully. It allowed me to go out more frequently and enjoy the peaceful outdoors. I usually just went to the park to read or take a jog through the city, but I decided to enjoy some classic tea. Yes, yes, I know that must be expected in the every day life of someone like me, but there was only one place I truthfully enjoyed the tea - a shop that was way to expensive for the every day attendance. But today I was feeling especially pissed off due to the incident I had with Mrs. Weiss a few days ago. Just thinking about it made steam shoot out of my ears. Not to mention it didn't help me mentally. Hearing from your deceased friends mother that it was all your fault their dead? Not the best thing I've heard. I often reminisce about the days when the majority of the Endurance crew (The younger people, usually; Alex, me, Sam, Jonah and sometimes Reyes if she wasn't caring for her daughter). But nowadays it's almost as if no one goes out at all; or out to have fun, at least. I was carting along my laptop with me to hopefully do some research on other mythological possibilities. If Himiko and Yamatai was real, why couldn't other myths?

I set my stuff down on a metal table outside of the restaurant and sat down in a matching chair. A waiter had come around to take my order.

"What can I get for you today, ma'am?" The older woman said. She was carrying an old log book for taking orders and a blue pen in hand. Her messy black hair was tied up in a bun.

"Just tea, please. Thank you." I had stuffed my wallet with the money I had saved for this tea. It wasn't so expensive that it made you question why anyone would buy it, but the money could've gotten Sam and I a few meals at McDonald's. This tea was of the finest quality and just the right temperature.

"It'll be right out." The lady smiled at me and headed back inside to fetch my tea. Although this place was a a coffee shop, it had the best tea in the U.S. I don't even know why they still sell their terrible coffee - their main sold product was the tea anyway. Within a few minutes if me booting up my laptop, the waiter had arrived with a cup on a plate balanced in one hand as she carried her log book in the other.

"Here you are, ma'am. Enjo-" She had caught her foot on the leg of a chair and had tumbled to the ground, spilling the hot tea all over my new cargo tea didn't help the burn from the coffee.

"Oh, god!" I said, standing up. I wasn't too mad about the tea in my pants (I was, but still), I was more worried about the liquid getting all over my laptop. The research inside of the old dinosaur I carried around had multiple sources of information for Yamatai and other mythological things. The tried hitting the power button a few times, but it wouldn't turn on.

"Oh, I am so sorry miss! Please, let me... let me get some towels for you!" She hurried off into the restaurant. I held my head in my hand and tried not to think about how sore my legs will be by the time everyone's done spilling their drinks on me.

"My life sucks..." I said as I looked up at the sky. I closed my eyes tight, hoping the past few months had just been a long dream and I'd wake up any second. Someone placed their hand on my shoulder, and my reflexes from Yamatai kicked in. I grabbed their arm without opening my eyes and flipped them over my head, onto the pavement. A loud cry of pain made me open my eyes, and look down at the boy who had touched me. And what I saw, was too much to bear.

Laying on the pavement, under my soaking wet pants and destroyed laptop, was a geeky nerd with a dark mustache and thick glasses.


	8. Chapter 8

"Al... Alex?" I asked, stepping back. He held his back in pain as he tried to get up from the wet pavement in vein. His glasses were completely broken, but he wasn't wearing the same clothing he was on the island. He had on a red and black plaid shirt and dark jeans, with a cast around his right leg.

"I swear, I'm gonna need a full body brace by the time I'm done hanging out with you." We're his first words in a sarcastic, painful laugh. I reached down to help him, but stopped. What if he was just another apparition? What if the second I touched his skin, I would be consumed by darkness? I held my hand back for a moment. There's no way Alex could be alive. As much as I hate to admit it, Alex was dead. Alex was dead. Alex... was... dead...

"I could use some help, here... I won't bite." He said as he extended his arm. "I'll explain everything once I'm off the ground." I slowly grasped his hand and pulled him up, once more ignoring the heat on my thighs.

"Are you real?" I asked before pulling out another can of pepper spray (even if it didn't work last time). He aimed the end at Alex, who held his hands up in surrender.

"I'm pretty sure I'm real... unless we're all just mindless AI inside of a video game, destined to interact in ways that would help the progression of a story with gigantic cliff hangers." He smiled at me, and the second he brought up the word video game, I knew it was him. My eyes started to tear up, and I dropped the can of pepper spray. I enveloped him in a hug, not letting him go. I let the tears stream down my face, not caring what anyone else thought.

"Oh, why are your legs so hot?" He asked, hugging me back.

"Excuse me?" I moved back a bit, stunned the caring Alex would say that.

"Your legs... was that tea she spilled on you the same temperature as the sun?" He put his hands down to wipe off the excess tea that had seeped onto his jeans from mine.

"Oh..." I said, feeling a bit stupid at overreacting. "How... the hell did you get off that island?" I asked.

"Well... um, everybody is looking at us..." I checked my surroundings and realized how crazy the past five minutes had been. A girl gets coffee spilled on her laptop and pants, throws a fit, flips a guy over her shoulder and breaks down crying.

"Oh... my apartment is just up the road. I need to get changed anyway. We can talk there..." I thought about Alex's journal I kept in my night stand... every single word he had written down about me, both before and during our time on the island. The fact that even after we left him for dead and just got reunited and still hasn't even given a hint about me besides his super secretive journal... Alex must really be bottling it all up.

"That'd be nice," He commented, picking up his crutches behind me. He motioned up the street. "Shall we?"


	9. Chapter 9

"I can't believe you still live here," Alex said as we entered the lobby to my apartment complex. "You've lived here since I met you." He moved his crutches across the floor swiftly as we headed down the long corridor to my place.

"Well, I've only known you for 3 years." I said as I pulled out the keys from my pocket. I was still completely mesmerized by Alex's appearance a month and a half after I thought he had died. I'm glad he isn't, but I still feel like he should have... the water, the explosions, the Solarii, it's sketchy. I put my keys into the keyhole and pushed the door open.

"Still; a girl with brains like yours, you and Sam should've been able to buy back tour parents mention with that." He said with a small laugh. Be hit his crutch on the way into the door, but recovered and kept walking in. "Still looks the same, too." He strided over to the couch and set down his crutches as he plopped down onto the leather. "So... I'm guessing you want to know how I got out?" He smirked slightly. I hadn't noticed the gash on Alex's cheek until now. His dark hair was messy.

"Please, enlighten me." I sat down on the couch, moving his crutches. "I heard the explosion, and screaming, and you-" a door opened up behind me, and footsteps peddled down the carpeted hallway.

"Lara?" Sam asked. "Do you have a boy ove-" She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Alex. She dropped the town she had in her hands and her eyes grew wide. "Alex!" She yelled and ran over to him. She wrapped him in a tight hug.

"Ouch!" He said when Sam put her arms around him. "I may be alive, but I'm not invisible." Sam let go momentarily before ruffling his hair.

"How... how did you get off the island? How did you survive?" She asked with a huge grin on her face. She walked around the couch and pulled up a chair from the dining room table.

"I was just about to tell Lara," He looked over at me. "I missed you guys."

"We missed you too, " said Sam. "Especially Lara."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, trying to suppress my embarrassment.

"You know what I mean," She elbowed my arm.

"Anyway," I got back on topic. "You were saying?"

"Well..." He looked over at me with a slight look of confusion, as if he was caught off guard when he heard that people had actually missed him. "After you locked that door, Lara, I shot another gas leak. It blew up the whole other side if the room! It was awesome!" He used hand gestures to show how massive the explosion was. "I had three bullets left in my gun, and at least ten more Solarii shooting at me. That's when the ship started to blow up even more, and pretty much the entire ship turned sideways. When it did that, I was thrown onto the other side of the room, the one with the explosion. The pipe was lifted off my leg, luckily, or I would've drowned. Anyway" He fixed his glasses. "Turns out the ship was sinking... or at least the back half of it. Water was rushing on from both sides, but the explosion made the catwalk fall down, creating a sort of... ramp, I guess. I crawled up the catwalk onto higher ground, and made my way up the stairs I came in. I got all the way to the top deck, before the ship started sliding back into the waves. There were three zip lines - you were on one of them, which led back to the ship. I tried calling your name, but I guess you didn't hear me."

"Alex... the ship sink right after I got off. How did you escape?"

"I grabbed onto one of the other ropes. It led all the way to the other side of the beach. Unfortunately, I landed on my bad leg when I reached ground. I blacked out almost instantly. When I woke up, everyone was gone, and so was the boat. I had hoped I was just dreaming or something, but I was trapped. No boat, no friends... and a bad leg. It took me an hour just to get back to the camp site."

Sam cracked her nuckles. "How'd you get off the island?"

"I found your old Walkie talkie under a rucksack - turns out you took my radio... it's a good thing you did. When you sent out your S.O.S., you permanently opened a secure channel to that radio tower. Which means..." I paused, holding up an old yellow walkie talkie. "I got to call the rescue team that crashed earlier. The flee another chopper over after the storm stopped and airlifted me outta there. If I hadn't set up that radio amplifier in my free time, I would've never gotten signal, and never made it off the island."

"When did you leave?"

"The morning after the Endurance blew up. Right after the storm stopped."

"Why didn't you call us? That was almost a month ago!" Sam chided.

"I called your cell phones multiple times. I guess you must have lost yours during the crash. I still had mine, but all the calls were dropped. Did you get new phones?"

"I got a new one." I pulled my new smart phone from my pocket and held it up. "So did Sam."

"So you got new numbers." Alex finished, scratching his head. "I would've, trust me. But I had to walk all the way here. I was on my way to your apartment when I saw Lara at the coffee place." He paused for a moment. "I thought the assholes on the island might have killed you..." Alex fiddled his hands. "What about Jonah and Reyes? And Whitman?"

"Whitman's dead..." I paused. "But Reyes and Jonah are okay."

"Oh, man. Three people died on that island... fuck." He laid back in the couch.

"Well, you can stay here as long as you want to. You must be starving, I'll cook some casserole for us!" Sam got up excitedly, gave Alex one more pain-filled hug and left for the kitchen.

"I could go for some food right now..." Alex said. The whole time he never took his eyes off me.

"Trust me, Sam will ruin your appetite." I got up from the couch. "Do you have a place to stay?"

"Actually, I-" He stopped himself for a moment before thinking. "Um, no... no I don't..."

"Well, you can sleep with us for as long as you need to." His eyes gleamed with happiness.

"Alright, thanks." There was a long moment of awkward silence. "Luckily, the doc said I can take this stupid thing off tomorrow." He hit the side of his cast a few times.

"That's good..." I crossed my arms and bit my lower lip.

"I'm just glad you're okay." He said, using his crutches to move closer to me and put his hand on my shoulder. "I am." He strode off down the hallway and found the bathroom, closing the door behind him. I sat down onto the couch and exhaled. I was ecstatic he was here, but why did I feel like something was wrong?


	10. Chapter 10

**Alex's P.O.V.**

"Alright, I'm heading out to get groceries. I'll be back!" Sam exclaimed as she shut the front door. I was sitting on the couch, while Lara was in her room looking through her journal. Man, it felt good to finally have that cast off of my foot for the first time in a month. I could properly wear my favorite jeans for once! I kept thinking about my journal... I had always kept little blurbs about my day in them, including some from the island. I had prayed over and over again that no one found that stupid journal... I had ranted about Lara a lot. She was dream girl - I felt like she was that celebrity at a photo shoot and I was the creepy guy with the camera who had no chance with her. Hell, if I had to choose between Lara and Jennifer Lawrence, I'd probably go with Lara. But I must have left my notebook somewhere on the island, because I couldn't find it after I left for the ship that made Lara think I was dead.

I heard papers shuffle in the other room. I was bored, so I got up and strided over to Lara's bedroom. Her door was slightly open, and she was reading something on her bed. I knocked twice before swinging the door open. "Hey, Lara..." I said. She looked up and jumped, closing the leather book in her hand and shoving it in the top drawer of her dresser.

"Alex!" She paused. "I didn't see you there." She fixed her shirt and stood up. "Is something wrong?" She asked.

"No, no, everything's fine... just kinda bored I guess." I stood there for a few seconds before leaving Lara to herself. Shy would I just walk in on her like that? I'm so stupid. I sat back down on the couch with a sigh and thought about my time before the island. I had only been with three girls in my lifetime, and I hoped Lara would be my fourth. Although so far, it hasn't been going to plan. The couch I was sitting on shifted, and I was taken from my thoughts. Lara had sat down on the other side of the couch, hands in her lap.

"Oh... uh, what's up?" I asked, trying to be casual. She smiled weakly.

"Alex..." her eyes were glassy, like she'd been crying. "What happened on that island... I, I didn't... I thought you were dead, and..."

"Woah, woah, Lara, calm down. I'm not dead... you don't need to think like that anymore. I'm here." I slide a bit closer and was about to put my hand around her shoulder to comfort her, but decided that'd be too awkward. But, she did lean into my chest, sobbing.

"Alex, I... I read your..." Oh gods. Did she find my journal?

"Wha...what?" I said, turning to make her more comfortable. Lara wrapped her arms around round my neck. If she wasn't crying over me, I'd be the happiest person in the world.

"Nevermind..." She moved her head up and wiped her eyes. She planted a kiss on my cheek. "Thanks for... not dying." This caused me to smile.

"I'll try to do that more often," I chuckled. This caused Lara to smile a bit. She sighed and rested her head on my shoulder again. "I'll could go for a drink right now..." She exhaled.

"Well..." I started. "We could down to the bar later tonight if you want. My treat." Lara nudged closer to me, elbowing my arm. I Lifted it up and wrapped my arm around her shoulder.

"Alex, I would love t-" the front door opened, and Sam stepped in. She dropped her soda bottle on the floor and closed the door behind her.

"Alex...?" Her eyes began to tear up... oh shit. I forgot.

"Sam, I..." She stormed out into the hallway, leaving the bags of food by the door.

"What was that about? Lara asked. Looks like I've got some explaining to do.


	11. Chapter 11

**Alex's P.O.V**

"Lara," I said, stopping her in the hallway momentarily. She looked at me in the eyes, her ponytail swaying until finally stopping. "I need to tell you something. Back on the island..." I started, scratching the back of my head. Lara arched her eyebrows and motioned for me to continue. "When you were up on that mountain, a little before the Endurance blew up, Sam and I went to check out something in the woods..."

**Yamatai, one month and 6 days ago**

"Lara's been up there for a while," Sam said by the crackling fire. It was almost sundown, the Endurance's ghostly she'll looming in front of it. Jonah was out fishing for our meal tonight, Reyes was working on the boat, and Sam and I were huddled near the fire.

"She's just too busy being a hero to spend time with us anymore," I joked to myself.

"She's just one girl, Alex." She blinked a few times before adding a fee sticks to the fire.

"Well that 'one girl' is kicking everyone's ass. She'll be fine..." I hoped. Sam was right; Lara was just some archeologist looking for tombs and crypts. She wasn't some hard core gamer girl who could take on the entirety of this island by herself... but she could get close. Lara and I had done something I wasn't expecting a few hours ago... I won't get into detail about it, but it was great... well, minus Lara getting cut up by Oopus Trees; but maybe I'll tell you guys about it later.

"Whatever..." Sam said, waving off the conversation. "Alex... do you... have a girl back home?" She stared at me like I was a new video game on a rack at GameStop, as if inspecting every inch of me.

"A guy like me? Please," I chuckled. "Girls don't go for guys like me. They go for the jocks, the macho men, the people who can make them laugh. Not the nerd IT guy at BestBuy. I'd be lucky if my mom wanted me to eat at her house," I joked. But it was true; who likes the nerds? The geeks? Big, thick glasses, dorky smile, tons of inside jokes... why have that when you can have rippling muscles and funny guys?

"Don't be too hard on yourself." Sam said, putting an arm on my shoulder. "I know at least two people who would be interested in you." Wow, TWO whole people might find me attractive? I feel so warm inside. Thanks, Sam.

"Why are we even talking about this?" I motioned to a small cut on Sam's arm. "Shouldn't you be like, fixing that or something?"

"Well, it-" She was cut off when two consecutive shots came from the woods. I didn't see the bullets; I only heard the shots. I got up onto my feet and pulled out my sidearm from the holster. I clicked off the safety and motioned to Sam to get behind cover.

"What the hell was that?" Reyes asked, setting down her tools.

"Sounded like gunfire to me." Sam exclaimed.

"I'll go check it out..." at times, this island was so boring, I'd be willing to go into the woods filled with killer cannibals and giant wolves just to do something. "I'll be back in a bit."

"I'll lull go with you," Sam held up a pistol, but dropped it and quickly picked it back up, fiddling with the safety.

"Don't go too far. They might not have been shooting at us." Reyes warned, getting back to work on the boat.

"Let's go." Sam looped her hand through mine, pulling me further towards the forest. She finally let go of my hand, and we walked through the dense underbrush. Sam stuck close to me - only strafing away when I asked her to check a bush. She was unusually clingy.

"Alex... do you like Lara?"

"Of course... she's a great friend." I replied as I checked through more bushes.

"That's not what I mean... do you LIKE like her?" She emphasized the Like.

"I..." I paused. What do I say? Do I confess to her best friend? Would that be too creepy? Do I even want to tell anyone? What if if she tells Lara and she doesn't like me back? A million different questions rang through my head at once, and I waswas frantically trying to stay calm. "Why?"

"I just... want to know." Sam said as if we weren't stuck on an island. "Do you?"

"Sam," I turned around, about to head back. "No..." I lied. Why did I lie? I don't know why I lied. I obviously liked Lara; she was my dream girl.

"Are you interested in girls?" She asked, twirling her hair a bit.

"Well, more than I'm into men." I said with a chuckle. Sam and I sat, alone in the forest in silence for a few moments. Sam bit her lower lip as I corrected my glasses on my face and wiped off the rain on the lens.

"I may just be crazy, but..." Sam moved forward, and with one fluent motion, Sam's lips were pressing to mine. Was she... was she kissing me? Was Sam Nishimura... kissing me? On the lips? Does this count as a kiss? Sam... did she... she asked all those questions about my love life...

I just went with my hunch and kissed Sam back with a bit more intensity. Am I dreaming? Is this a dream? Sam was ACTUALLY kissing me... Sam stood up on her toes to get even closer to me. I wanted to break away and ask what the hell she was doing, but I didn't want to mess up this moment. Sam smiled into the kiss, and I decided to put my hands on her hips. My glasses were in an awkward position on my face due to Sam; but who cares? Was I supposed to be looking for something? Why were we in the middle of the forest? Sam's weight pushed up against me, which made me step back a bit, still kissing Sam. When I did, my foot caught on a root, and I tripped backwards. Sam landed on my chest, and the kiss had stopped due to my falling. Sam looked just as shocked as I did; but then she began to laugh and dropped her head back down, reentering the kiss.

Sam's hands had made their way down to my pants... what... the... fuck... was she... was she really about to do this... was I about to do this? Still kissing Sam, my hands drifted lower and lower down Sam's body...

"Sam?" Lara said. I was so startled I stopped kissing Sam and held my hands up. The girl on top of me reached back, in clipping a walkie talkie from her belt. She looked back at me with a huge grin.

"Lara! Are you okay?" Sam said into the two - way radio.

"I'm on my way down, don't let the others take the boat off the island." Lara said, her voice shaky. "Something is keeping us here... We have to take the boat inland before we can leave this place... I have a plan, just don't tell the others..." the radio clicked off, and Sam clipped the radio back onto her belt.

"We should... probably get back..." I said, Sam still sitting on my lap.

"Well continue this later." Sam winked and got up, helping me to my feet. I corrected my zipper and fixed my shirt, heading back to camp with Sam.

When we got back, Reyes was cursing at the boat.

"Something wrong?" I asked as Sam went over to the campfire.

"I need my tools to fix this ship; but I left them on the Endurance. This isn't getting fixed without those tools." I thought about Sam and Lara; I cod impress them by getting them by myself. I wouldn't be in danger; at most I'd have men shooting at me! No big deal.

"I could get those tools." I looked at the ghostly remains of the ship with the sun almost completely sunk below the horizon.

"Are you sure? Maybe we should just wait for Lara..."

"No," I insisted. "I'll go."

"I'll to your funeral." Reyes said as she went back to tinkering.

"Hey," Sam stood up. "Be careful, okay?" She smiled, and so did I... did Sam really... LIKE like me? It was impossible. A guy like me never gets to be a hero.

**Present day**

"And that's when the ship blew up..." I finished my story. " Sam must've gotten pissed when I had my arm around you." I fixed my glasses. "Well, I'm not sure if I'm... into Sam as much as another girl that I've been interested in since I met her."

Lara looked down at the ground, taking in the whole story. She frowned. "Sam really did that?"

"Unless I'm going insane, yeah." I paused for a moment. "Lara, after we calm down Sam, I've gotta tell you something. Something important. I don't even think you remember." I started walking down the hallway. "I'll tell you when we get back."


	12. Chapter 12

**Lara's P.O.V.**

"Sam...?" I said as I slowly opened her bedroom door. She had come home about an hour ago, and went straight to her room when she did. I had decided to hide in my room and leave poor Alex in the living room by himself. Waiting a while before approaching Samantha is what I've found to be the best and easiest way to calm her down. Granted, I myself was quite shocked and a little disappointed that Alex and Sam had almost... My mind raced as I looked over at Alex, who sat on the couch with his glasses off, rubbing his eyes. I completely opened the door and closed it behind me, locking it. Sam sat on the edge of her bed, mascara running down her face along with a few rogue tears, despite her trying to keep from crying anymore.

"I knew he'd go for you. I was so stupid," Sam moped as I sat beside her. "He talked about you non stop on the ship." She put her hands at her eyes to keep from letting more tears show.

"The past few hours have been exhausting," I exclaimed, throwing myself back onto her bed. "This is why I never went for the guys you introduced me to. Too much drama."

"I felt bad for him..." Sam exclaimed after some time.

"What do you mean by that?" I sat up.

"I felt bad for Alex." Sam wiped her eyes. "You were his dream girl; you're the only person on the ship who didn't see that. You were too focused on your work to notice. If you were anywhere outside of your room, Alex was destined to be nearby. Some people even put bets on how hard you'd let Alex down if he asked you out... looks like Roth won the bet." She let that hang in the air for a moment. "You gave Alex the least amount of attention possible. You never looked at him like a friend... just someone who helped keep the ship afloat. I felt bad for him, you know? Not even being noticed by your crush; it's gotta hurt. So, out of pity, I kissed him. Nothing about it. But after that, while you were off being a hero, I learned more and more about Alex. He's a great guy... and I think I might have started to have a real crush on him."

"Well, we were on a voyage to find a lost kingdom, not find our soulmates." I laughed. "So what're we gonna do?" Sam was about to say something when there was a nock at the door.

"Sam, Lara," Alex began. "I feel like I've let both of you down. Sam, I gave you my word, and I still asked Lara to a drink. Lara, I didn't tell you about what happened with Sam and I. But Sam..." Alex stopped, and Sam and I exchanged looks.

"You deserve him," Sam said. "He finally made a move on you." Sam got up and unlocked the door, letting Alex in. "I'll leave you two alone for a little bit... I'll be at the park if you need me." Sam gave a weak smile before closing the door behind her.

"So..." Alex scratched at his leg. "This definitely went out if control." I blinked a few times before standing up. Alex was still taller than me by a few inches, but I was catching up in height.

"You should feel lucky, Mr. Weiss." I grinned slightly, trying to forget about Sam. She could get any guy in the world, and she happens to go for the only one I like. "You have two girls fighting over you." Alex chuckled.

"But I don't know... I just, I feel wrong doing this to you guys. I'm just that IT guy that doesn't get attention from girls; I guess dying can really make someone a pot more attractive." I laughed, but stopped right away. "Right..." He started. "No jokes about dying. Got it."

"You're terrible." I joked. This caused Alex to give a hearty laugh.

"Well, with girls, yes, I'm terrible; but you should've seen my high score on-"

"Oh, god!" I exclaimed. I went on my gut instinct and did the exact same thing Sam had done... I stood on my toes, leaned forward and pulled Alex in close. Alex slouched down and our lips met. My mind was racing as my first crush in who - knows how many years wrapped his arms around me.

And for once, I wasn't thinking about Yamatai.


	13. Chapter 13

It had been four days since Alex and I had shared our first kiss. It was magical; is that how all kisses felt? Every hug? Every embrace? I could finally understand why Sam was so obsessed with meeting "the perfect one." Alex wasn't perfect, but he was damn near close. How had I not realized him before? The geeky archeologist and the nerd electrician; who'd have thought?

"Lara? You with me?" Alex shook my shoulder, jolting me back to reality. "You okay?" He asked. I looked down at his "computers are people too" shirt and couldn't help but smile. Alex always had some odd graphic t-shirt on; ever since the day I met him three years ago, when Sam introduced me to her geeky tech guy who had fixed her phone at BestBuy. I don't know what happened between them... why would Sam just ask the IT guy to get coffee with her and her quiet friend. Either way, I'm glad she did.

"Yeah, sorry. Just thinking." I added. We were walking through the mall, crowds of people around us, looking for new clothes. Sam insisted; she wanted to be alone for a little bit, so why not send out the cute couple that ruined her relationship? Sam always got the cute guys. On the rare nights when I decided to get some fresh air and join Sam and go to bars, she'd always get first dibs on the guys. But this time, she isn't going to get in my way.

"What about there?" Alex pointed off in the distance to a clothing store named Suburban. I frowned, looking at the multiple holes in Alex's pants.

"I thought you said you wanted nice jeans?" I laughed as we passes the rundown store. "If you want to go get pants with even more holes in them, go ahead!" I smiled. Alex looked at the mannequins in the windows of the store.

"Yeah, didn't realize." We kept on walking. Alex didn't have any extra clothes; he managed to take a few shirts and jeans from the suitcase he brought back from the island, which all had huge holes and rips in them. Even in his shirt their was a huge hole where the armpit is.

"There!" Alex nodded his head at Burlington Coat Factory.

"That could work." I smiled and looped my hand in his, our fingers intertwining. We walked off to the end of the mall and entered the brightly lit clothing store. The racks of clothes went on forever; I finally found a sign that said "mens."

"Over here, C'mon." I tugged Alex's arm and pulled him over to the pants. I sifted through the racks and pulled out dark blue denim. "How's this?"

"Meh..." He held his hand out and did a "so/so" motion. "These look good. Look! It comes with a belt!" He was ecstatic and held up a pair of light blue husky jeans with a leather belt.

"Alright, here." I reached over and stole an empty basket from a worker who was just finishing putting away clothes onto a rack. "Get two more." He quickly pulled out more pants from the rack. "Do you want to get new shirts that don't have cheesy little comics on them?" I motioned to the laptop with a face on his shirt.

"I think I'll get some shirts; but I'm getting every single graphic tee I find!" He acted like a child and ran through the clothing racks until he came up on the shirts. He turned right and disappeared from sight. I shook head like an old mother, trying to keep her kid in check... then I remembered.

I'm pregnant. And Alex doesn't know.

"Alex...?" My voice was a bit deeper. "Could you come here for a moment?" There was no reply. I walked through the threshold between the men's pants and men's shirts, looking through the aisles to find him.

"This isn't funn-" I was cut off when hands reached out of a clothing rack and grabbed my hand with a loud "boo!" Following after. Instantly I screamed and pulled the hand out of the Rack. I reached for my pocket and pulled out my swiss army knife, whipping the blade out and holding it to their neck.

"Woah, woah, sorry!" Alex said, holding his hands up in surrender. I sighed and put my blade away, helping Alex up. "Sorry about that, won't do it anymore." Alex smiled slightly. "Maybe..." I shut him up with a short kiss on the cheek.

"C'mon, grab some shirts and let's head home." I said, motioning to the graphic tee rack next to us.

When we payed for our clothes (I had bought a lovely black coat with small pockets inside), we headed out to the parking lot, hand in hand.

"So what do you think Sam is doing right now?" Alex asked carrying four bags.

"Probably trying to look for something to eat." I giggled.

"Well you know, on the isla-" Alex stopped in his tracks as he stared to my right. I followed his gaze and looked at my silver sedan; there was a marking on the back of it, as if someone drew on my car with a white powder. I recognized the drawing from somewhere... it was a sun, over top of a triangular object that I guessed to be a mountain, and a woman in a Buddhist pose...

It was the same drawing I saw on the walls of buildings on Yamatai.


	14. Chapter 14

Alex's P.O.V.

Lara dropped the bag in her hand as she covered her mouth. Her eyes widened and she started breathing heavily.

"What's wrong? It's just some graffiti. It'll wash off easily." I offered, trying to calm Lara down. I picked up her bag for her, holding it out. But instead of reaching for the bag, she took her phone out of her pocket and tapped on the screen furiously. "Lara...?"

"We need to leave, now. We can't take the car." She held her phone to her face. "I need a taxi. Now." She demanded the other person on the line. She shoved her phone back in her pocket.

"Lara, calm down! What the hell are you going on about?" I asked, grabbing her shoulders. Lara started choking on her words as her eyes watered.

"They're here, Alex! Here! In the U.S.! DO you know what this means?!" She said with her voice shaking. "The symbols, the mark of death, from the tombs..." She started ranting as she stared at the white paste on the side of her car. She even tried to lick it to see what it was written in (but luckily, I stopped her in time. Damn thing could be poisonous or something).

A yellow car with an ad for pimple cream on top of it came into the parking lot and stopped in the middle of the road. "Alex... Alex, the cab is here." Lara said chaotically and jumped into the back seat. I hesitantly joined her and stared at the hat bearing driver. His face wasn't visible.

"Where to?" He said in a New York accent.

"21st," Lara said as she looked through her bags. "Luis Apartment Complex."

"Lara, seriously, what's wrong?" I asked as the car sped away from Lara's car.

"Yamatai... That symbol was in the caves on Yamatai..." She started to sob and put her head in her hands.

"That's impossible. There's no way someone could've followed us all the way from Yamatai." I said, laughing slightly to try and ease the tension.

"It's possible..." She held her stomach and stopped crying momentarily.

"Huh?" I asked. "What, are you pregnant or something?" I joked. Lara looked up at me with a serious face. "Don't tell me you're actually pregnant..."

"Alex..."

Oh boy. This'll be a long story to explain. Both hers, and mine.


	15. Chapter 15

(Yamatai, 6 hours before Alex's Disappearance)

I sat in the tall grass, my face and body cakes with mud as Roth's corpse burning in the distance. I had started making my way back down the mountain to meet up with Alex, Reyes and the others. Roth had taken an axe in the back for me... and I just let him die. He protected me, even when I should've died... I have no reason to be alive and he has no reason to be dead. That axe should have struck me, not him.

"Get her! Now!" A deep voice yelled. I instantly reached back and pulled out an arrow. I aimed my bow around the forest and tried to look through the thick underbrush for enemies. A man came out of the forest with a spear. On the other side of me, a man came at me with a saw blade on a stick. I instantly aimed at the spearman, releasing the arrow into his shoulder. The Solarii recoiled but kept coming at me. Now that he was closer I could see a shiny liquid on the tip of his weapon. I took another arrow, and as he came into contact with me, dodged his spear and jabbed the arrow into his neck. Then, I used my climbing axe to crush his skull.

But I had forgotten about the second one. My back irrupted into pain and I stumbled forward. My vision blurred slightly and my back went numb. "Poison," I said wearily and took out another arrow. I kicked the Solarii back and aimed at his head. When the arrow hit him, he fell back into the mud with a thud. He didn't get up.

"Gah," I said as I touched my back. I couldn't even see the size of the wound, which made me regret staying up on the mountain for so long. I was about to call for help when I realized that would only attract more attention. I quickly jogged down the hillside, hoping I could get help before I feinted.

I turned the edge of a tree and bumped into a tall, dark figure. We both fell in the grass, and I pulled out my axe in defense. "Lara?" THe man asked, standing up. I stayed on the ground and held a hand out. "It's me, Alex."

I reached up and grabbed his hand and stood up. "What're you doing up here?" I asked, my words slurred together. My lips went numb from the poison.

"I came to get you. You've been up here for an hour by yourself. Just wanted to make sure you're okay." He said, rubbing the back of his neck and pushing his glasses up his nose. Was he always this hot?

"Youdon'tneedto... worry aboutme," I said a bit wobbly. The sky was a pretty purple color, the grass was a relaxing blue and Alex was shirtless with a six pack. Huh?

"Are you okay L.C.? You don't look alright..."  
>"I'm fine, you hunk of man," I flirted and leaned against a tree. I guess there wasn't a real tree there after all, because i fell right through it onto the cold ground. Alex rushed to my side.<p>

"You seriously aren't okay." He said dreamily.

"Why are you shirtless Mr. Weiss?" I said teasingly. "Are you suggesting something?" I said with a giggle.

"Wa...? I'm not shirtless..." He looked down at his chest.

"Don't play dumb with the British girl, if you want me, you betterdoit... before... Ifallasleep." I blinked rapidly.

"What the hell are you-" I shut the sexy guy what's-his-name with a kiss. I seductively coughed in his mouth, but continued the kiss. Alex wanted to pull away, but I knew he liked it. I continued to kiss him. "You'...re really ho...ot." I said into his lips.

"Lara, sto-" I tugged at his jeans and used my other hand to lift up my ripped tank top. The white undershirt also cale up, and I stared at him. "Whatwasthat, lover boy?" I drowsily kicked off my heels. Alex looked at me, like he was wondering if he should continue or not.

"You probably won't getachance like this, Weiss Piece," I laughed at my rhyme.

"I..."I was tired of listening to him rant and took off my pants. What time was it again? 26:92 or something like that.\

"Ow..." I said as I held my head. What the hell happened last night? I had on my undershirt, but my tank top lay on the ground beside me. My boots were also off. "What..." I decided not to dwell on it. I needed to get back to my friends. I put my shirt and shoes back on, and went back down to the beach, where Reyes was. She told me how Alex had went int-=o the Endurance to look for tools.

"Alex, Don't end up hurting yourself again," I shook my head as I stated to parkour to the ship in the distance with a huge headache. I didn't know why, but my back had a nasty scar. I had no memory of the past hour or two. I remember Roth, and some Solarii... but besides that, my mind was blank. Looks like all there is to do is save Alex again.


	16. Chapter 16

"You what?!" Lara stood up from the couch. She ran her hands through her hair and sighed heavily. "You... what the hell, Alex? What made you decide you could just... take advantage of me like that?!" Lara looked like she wanted to hit me, but thankfully she didn't. I'd probably get bitch-slapped into next week.

"Hey, I got cut by those spears too!" I argued, hoping to calm her down. I was probably the worst debater in history. What the hell am I saying? Of course it was on purpose. I was never poisoned. I was just trying to save my own skin. In Krypt Looter, you had to try and survive, and that's what I am doing. Surviving to live another day with Lara.

"So that instantly gets you off the hook for... for raping me?!" She spat out the words like a truck hitting me. "Wait, I didn't... you let..." I couldn't figure out what to say. It was hard to defend my case here. I could sure use some help.

The phone rang and Lara's attention finally shifted away from me. I tried to collect my thoughts as she answered the phone, still probably giving me death glares behind me.

"Hello?" She said, as if she wasn't just in a huge battle about what rape was. "Okay..." She said. I knew I shouldn't have told her, it was just too hard to resist. It's like if Lydia from SKYRIM just asked to have sex... would you? Of course you would, don't lie to me. "Oh, gods..." Lara said. I swear, it isn't rape. She let me! How was I supposed to know? Hell, that should be my compensation for saving her on that ship!

Lara set down the phone and threw on a jacket. "Who was that?" I asked, hoping she forgot What I had said.

"Jonah,# she said as she grabbed her keys from the counter and opened the door. "He's..." was all she said, emotionless as she left down the hall with me in tow.


End file.
